Eric Liddell's Consecrated Stride

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell stunned the world by withdrawing from his best event at the Paris Olympics — the 100 meters — because the heats fell on a Sunday. Critics called him foolish. Teammates urged him to compromise. But Liddell understood something profound about the body he had been given: it was not his own to use however he pleased.

He switched to the 400 meters, an event he had barely trained for, and won gold with a time that shattered the existing Olympic record. When asked about his decision, Liddell offered no elaborate theology. He simply said, "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

What made Liddell remarkable was not his speed but his refusal to treat his physical gifts as merely personal assets. He recognized that his legs, his lungs, his explosive stride all belonged to the One who fashioned them. He would not deploy that body in a way that dishonored its true Owner — not even for Olympic glory.

Paul's words to the Corinthians cut to this same conviction: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." The Corinthians believed that because they were free in Christ, they could do anything with their flesh. Paul corrected them — freedom is not license. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and every choice about what we do with it is an act of worship or an act of trespass.

Liddell spent the rest of his life as a missionary in China, pouring out that same consecrated body in service until his death in a Japanese internment camp in 1945. He understood what Paul preached: these bodies are on loan from the Almighty, and the highest use of freedom is to give them back.